Katy Goodman’s second offering as La Sera (Italian for ‘the evening’) occupies a decidedly nocturnal space. Laid back and chic, it’s the companion to a bottle of red wine in the early hours.

Katy Goodman’s second offering as La Sera (Italian for ‘the evening’) occupies a decidedly nocturnal space. Laid back and chic, it’s the companion to a bottle of red wine in the early hours.

Coming from one third of The Vivian Girls, it’s no surprise that Sees The Light is brimming with power pop, rockabilly and distorted 50s rock and roll and 'Please Be My Third Eye', 'Break My Heart' and 'How Far We’ve Come' will all seem familiar to long time fans of the Brooklyn group, and are delivered with varying degrees of success, if little in the way of surprise. 'I Can’t Keep You On My Mind', however, occupies the slightly more buoyant territory of Best Coast and it benefits from the subtle change in tack.

Indeed, when Goodman uses her solo moniker to indulge in fresher and more grown up pursuits, we are treated to the album’s highlights. When she has the courage to venture out of her comfort zone, as on 'Love That’s Gone' and 'It’s Over Now', we find her touching on the baroque pop of Beach House with impressive results. The Buddy Holly-esque 'Real Boy' is an aesthetic success; a clever play on 1950s innocence. The line, “Won’t break your head if you don’t break my heart,” shows that Goodman possesses a dark sense of humour that we simply don’t see enough of on this album.

Thematically, the record focuses quite emphatically on the breakdown of a relationship. It seems laboured, though, as Goodman repeats her declaration that "it’s over" ad nauseum, dragging down several of the songs. Indeed, though they share very similar concerns, most of the songs lack any distinguishing features and it ultimately means that the songs become interchangeable. You don’t come away truly believing the singer, either, and her words become redundant with every duplicated sentiment. In terms of sound, Sees The Light also has a tendency to go beyond lo-fi and plunge into the realm of half-finished. As with the lyrics, choruses and melodies are repeated over and over again, making it remarkably easy to lose concentration.

At the end of the day, the album feels like a decent side project which will come as a welcome addition for Vivian Girls devotees. It may, however, leave casual fans disappointed and it’s hard to imagine this warranting repeated listening. When Goodman does experiment the results are all the more rewarding but whether she has the courage and know-how to stretch these moments out over the course of an album remains to be seen.